


Doctor Strange and Patrick Melrose parallels: childhood problems comparison and comic subtext

by startrekfan



Series: Doctor Strange Metas [27]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Doctor Strange (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Patrick Melrose (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Analysis, Canon, Character Analysis, Headcanon, Meta, Psychology, comic analysis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 02:13:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14906451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekfan/pseuds/startrekfan





	Doctor Strange and Patrick Melrose parallels: childhood problems comparison and comic subtext

If you read the comics, Stephen’s father used to be very strict: Stephen wasn’t allowed to go out without asking for permission even when he was in his twenties, his magic phenomena were strongly suppressed, Stephen was never allowed to celebrate Halloween (cartoon/animated series canon confirmed), his father was very religious, so he probably treated Stephen like a demoniac/possessed child as every time he got too emotional, weird things would happen, just like in Harry Potter, but more random, not intense things, such as objects falling and lights going on and off. Stephen’s sexuality probably was victim of oppression and well, fathers like Stephen’s in 1980 used to be very violent when it came to their children being bisexual, gay, trans or pansexual, they would often try to “fix” the kid by abusing them so “they would know how being gay is like”, it used to be extremely cruel, beat kids up was a lot more common and “acceptable” because of all the paternalist shit and it’s too sad stuff like that still happens today.  
While Patrick Melrose’s father was pure evil and used to abuse Patrick for pleasure, Stephen’s father wasn’t evil per se (at least not like Patrick’s father). Stephen’s father did everything he did trying to “fix” Stephen, so in his twisted head, he was right and hurting Stephen was “necessary” because Stephen had these weird magic phenomena and this “perversion” that “had to be repaired”. Stephen probably went through strong emotional abuse, and we have to consider he was the oldest brother of the family, meaning he had to go through all that shit and still be strong to take care of his bro Victor and Donna as if everything was okay.

[ ](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-imPXb0qug-o/WvsN8SZtSAI/AAAAAAAAK9E/wd8C8lta1W0ttVRd7kMwLqAZDC4hfEK1ACEwYBhgL/s1600/vlcsnap-2018-05-06-04h13m20s547.png)

 

Stephen’s sexuality and behavior shows that sooo clearly: he is A LOT MORE OPEN to women when it’s about relationships and sex, women became this more positive figure in his head because his mother and sister Donna were caring and loved him, while masculine figures (his father and his brother Victor he was always arguing with) were always problematic and hurtful, so Stephen is 10000000% more selective towards men. Also, Stephen has phobia of failing, Stephen feels attacked and uncomfortable with positive, cute physical affection a lot more than normal people would feel (not talking about harassment, I’m talking about a simple hug or caress on his head). Stephen has to trust the person and give consent before he can feel relaxed while being touched by someone, including hugs. Stephen is almost a perfectionist, he doesn’t like things PERFECTLY SYMMETRIC, “non symmetry” doesn’t bother him and he isn’t disturbed by imperfect things, meaning he probably was induced to be a perfectionist when he was young but slowly abandoned that concept, not losing the habit, of course. He also has a strong tendency to coping mechanisms such as addictions: he smoked for a while (comics), became an alcoholic, was addicted to spending money as soon as he got, among other things, such as work addiction, etc. He was never mentally okay, nightmares, chronic depression etc.

Patrick and Stephen have many parallels, but there are a few differences, like, Stephen’s story was never focused on his past/youth, there are just these HUGE HINTS AND INDICATORS that lead us to believe he had an abusive childhood (affection, physical contact and emotional mainly), but still, Stephen resisted well and despite his problems, he moved on and earned a POWERFUL mental resistance, he evolved, he got stronger. Patrick Melrose, oh man, that baby is just…so lost. He tries and tries but he’ll buried so deep, he responded to abuse a lot worse than Stephen and is destroying himself, baby. 


End file.
